


I Never Knew I'd Need You.

by theatergirl06



Series: Quarantine Nightmares [1]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:21:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23388688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatergirl06/pseuds/theatergirl06
Summary: Screams in the night are a normal occurrence in the queens' apartment. But it's only after the stay-at-home order that they start to happen every night. The first night, they come from a predictable place, but lead to an unexpected conversation.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn & Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves/Katherine Howard
Series: Quarantine Nightmares [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682281
Comments: 5
Kudos: 89





	I Never Knew I'd Need You.

By the fifteenth day of quarantine, every single queen already had some form of cabin fever. Catherine would be locked in her room for hours every day, absorbing herself in prayer and avoiding the others. Anne was more hyper than ever; bouncing on the couch, roller skating down the stairs, painting a mural on Jane’s bedroom wall. Wherever you looked, there was Anne, causing some form of trouble. Jane had developed a sudden passion for cooking, and if she wasn’t in the kitchen, there was a good chance she was at the grocery store buying ingredients. She was becoming very territorial of the kitchen as well, barely letting Cathy in to make her coffee every morning. Anna and Kat could be found doing a new project every day, which was entertaining, but they were just as likely to be found cuddling on the couch and doing absolutely nothing. Cathy had decided that she was going to write an entire fantasy series, and could barely ever be found outside of her room without her notebook or laptop.

But despite the various crazy events that occurred every day, they were pretty much as normal as a quarantined apartment containing six people could be. During the day, that is.

At night, it was another story. 

Even before the quarantine, screams had been a rather common occurrence for the queens. Especially in the month after they’d first arrived, it was almost a guarantee to hear nightmarish yells coming from the bedrooms of Anne and Kitty, often from the rooms of Jane and Catherine, and even occasionally from the rooms of Anna and Cathy. As group therapy had gone on, the queens had learned to manage their own individual fears, and as such, became less prone to nightmares. But of course, trauma doesn’t go away, and in the months leading up to the quarantine, a scream would be heard echoing through the apartment once a week or so. 

It was when the queens began to really fear the new virus that their walls began to crumble again during the night. It was when they stopped being able to leave their apartment that the screams began to come every night again. 

It was the first night after the stay-at-home order when two queens formed an unusual bond at one in the morning. 

Jane Seymour was having a relatively normal night. She’d been a little more tired than usual, probably because she’d exhausted herself trying to replicate bread sculptures from  _ The Great British Bake-Off  _ all day, so she’d gone to bed a half hour earlier than usual. She’d decided to put on a face mask while she slept and see what it did, just for fun. She’d spent a good amount of time reading her newest novel, a murder mystery set in Paris, turned off her light, and tried her best to drown out the noise that Anne, Anna, and Kitty were making outside of her door, which was the one downside of having her bedroom on the first floor.

Eventually, though, she had managed to fall asleep. She was dreaming an odd dream about houses that were made of bread when she was roughly woken up by the sounds of screams echoing through the apartment. 

Instantly, she was out of bed and running to check every room and make sure everyone was alright. Since everyone’s nightmares had started, it had become her unofficial job, and she was happy to do it. 

She poked her head into Catherine’s room down the hall, the only other room on the first floor of their apartment. The Spanish queen was sitting up in bed, looking visibly concerned.

“Did you hear the screaming?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here. I gather it wasn’t you, though?”

“No. I’m sure I’ll be screaming soon during this quarantine, but not while I’m asleep. Do you want help checking on everyone?”

“No, love, that’s alright. I think I’ve got it covered.”

Jane heard the first queen mumble something about never getting any sleep as she raced down the hallway to the stairs. One day into the stay-at-home order and Catherine was already in a grumpy mood. 

She knocked on the first door off the landing, Cathy’s, and the final queen came to the door, looking a little confused and very tired.

“Is it morning already?”

“No, love, it’s 12:30AM.”

“Oh. What’s up?”

“Didn’t you hear the screams?”

“Someone screamed?”

Jane signed and sent Cathy back to her writing. She loved the sixth queen with all of her heart, but sometimes she could get so absorbed in her writing that she became an incredible mix of adorable and irritating.

Continuing towards the two rooms at the end of the hall, she ran smack into the two queens who the rooms belonged to. Kat and Anna were standing in front of her, holding hands and looking somewhat panicked. 

“It’s Anne who screamed, mum!”

“We heard it coming from her room.”

“We tried knocking on the door, but she told us to go away!”

“We thought you might have better luck.”

Jane smiled at them, trying to hide her worries. Anne was one of the more common nightmare victims in their apartment, but she was rarely afraid to talk to people about it or have them with her, and she’d  _ never  _ refused to talk to her cousin. If that was what she was doing...it must be something really bad. But Jane didn’t say any of that. Kat and Anna had already done their best, and there was no reason to worry them more. 

“All right, loves. I can take it from here. You go back to bed.”

With one last worried look over her shoulder, Katherine pulled Anna back down the hall. It didn’t escape Jane’s eyes that the fourth and fifth queens went into the same room, but she tried not to think about that too much. It was a conversation to have with her daughter another time. 

For now, she had another beheaded queen to help. She gently knocked on the door to the third floor bedroom, easily the biggest room in the apartment, that Anne had claimed the second they’d arrived. 

“Anne, love? It’s Jane.”

A second. Then, “Go away.” 

Jane sighed. She wanted nothing more than to help Anne, but she couldn’t force her to talk about her feelings, or her nightmares. She had to trust that Anne would come to her on her own time. 

“Alright, love. I’ll leave. But I’m going to be in the kitchen with tea if you need to talk.”

And with that, Jane turned away from Anne’s door and headed back down the stairs to the kitchen, where, as she’d promised, she boiled a kettle full of water and got out a box of peppermint tea. 

She sat at the window and began to think. 

Quarantine was terrifying. There were so many unknowns and the world was on the verge of collapsing. It was no wonder the queens were experiencing so much terror in their sleep. She sipped her tea and stared out at the dark city, quieter at night than she’d ever seen it, even in the 1500s. What was coming for the queens? Only time would tell. 

“Any tea left?” 

Jane didn’t have to turn to the door to know it was Anne. But she could tell when the second queen was next to her on the window seat, steaming mug of tea in her hand. 

“What happened, love?”

Anne took a deep breath. “I had a dream. It was...about Elizabeth.”

Jane turned to the green-eyed woman, mug of tea still in hand. “Oh.” 

“We were playing together in the flower bushes, just what we liked to do on Saturday nights back then. It was...amazing. It was just me and my daughter and the sunshine and the birds singing.”

Jane put down her tea and gripped Anne’s hand. “But?”

Anne rested her head on the blonde woman’s shoulder, exhausted and still scared. “But then it was all over. The sky turned red. Henry was there. I turned to him, ready to get beheaded again, but instead…” Her voice trailed off into sobs, tears streaming onto her face. “Instead...he...he took her. To the scaffolding. And I had to watch when he...you know.”

Jane was unsure for a second about what to do, but she decided to wrap her arms around her and squeeze gently. She even tickled a little, like she sometimes did for Katherine. She heard a little laugh behind the tears. 

Eventually, Anne broke from the embrace and sat up. “I couldn’t talk to Kat. She doesn’t know it, but she looks a lot like Lizzie. Not her last face, but this one. They have the same eyes and lips, the same face shape. I can’t look at my cousin without seeing her.” Anne took a deep breath. Her sobs were getting a little lighter now. “I don’t know, I just...you had a child, too, and I know we weren’t the best of friends last time. But I thought you might understand.”

Jane moved to hug Anne lightly again, but she’d forgotten Anne was still holding her tea, and hot water spilled over both of them. They made eye contact for a moment, then slowly, Anne began to giggle. Then she began to laugh. Hard. 

“Look, Anne, I can never completely understand everything you went through. No one can truly understand it. But I understand the guilt over abandoning your child.” Jane grasped the woman’s shoulders. “But this is what a lot of people tell me, so now I’m going to tell it to you. You did not abandon your daughter. You were taken away from her by forces outside of your control, and I know you’ll always miss her, but you have to know that what happened to her wasn’t your fault. And she took your influence with her for her entire life. You never left her, Anne. You never will.”

Anne sighed and hopped off the window ledge, empty tea mug in hand. “I know all that in my head, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about her. How I left her.”

Jane hopped off the window sill as well, empty mug in hand. “Look, Anne. These are hard times. We’re all being pushed to the limit here. But it’s times like these when we’re going to need each other most. You can’t push people away because of your past.”

Anne stared back at her, fear creeping back into her eyes. “I just...I miss her so much.”

“I know you do, love. I miss Edward, too. But I get through my days knowing that he’s here with me in my heart. And that I have a new family now. One I can take care of the way I never got to take care of him.”

Anne sighed as she put both their empty tea mugs in the sink. “Thank you, Jane. I know we didn’t start out as the best of friends, but...your friendship has meant a lot from me. Your kindness and generosity have helped me and Kat so much. We were both so fragile when we got here, and you built the family that saved us. I just...don’t know how I can ever repay you. You just keep helping me when I’m at my worst.”

Jane smiled. “There’s no need to repay me, love. But I have a feeling you’re not going to be able to sleep for the rest of tonight. So how about watching some baking shows with me and helping me pick a new recipe for tomorrow? If you’re interested, you could even help me make it.”

Anne smiled. “I’d like that a lot.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Hope you enjoyed that. This fic does not have multiple chapters, but there will hopefully be some more quarantine nightmare fics.


End file.
